Pursell Farms

Location

FarmLinks at Pursell Farms sits in Sylacauga, Alabama — about an hour southeast of Birmingham and just over two hours west of Atlanta. The course is the centerpiece of the Pursell family's working farm, with the rest of the resort built around it: The Inn, cottages and cabins, Parker Lodge, on-site dining, The Spring House Spa, and the Orvis Shooting Grounds.

The course

FarmLinks was designed by Hurdzan-Fry Environmental Golf Design and routes through the foothills of the Talladega range. The terrain does a lot of the talking — dramatic elevation changes throughout the round, fairways that fall away from the tee, and water in play at Lake Christine on 10 and Pennywinkle Creek on 14.

The signature hole is the par-3 5th — "Hang Time" — with a 172-foot drop from the tips to the green. Other named holes worth tracking on broadcast: "Lower 40" on 4 (the course's #1 handicap), "Bootlegger" on 6, and "Big Daddy" on 7.

FarmLinks has been ranked among Golfweek's Top 100 courses in the U.S., appears on Golf Digest's Top 50 Golf Resorts, and held the #1 All-Access Alabama spot every year from 2013 to 2023.

What to expect

Pursell describes the course as a place to "remember what it's like to play for the pure enjoyment of the game" — a fair frame for YGT's opening event. It's a resort course built to be played, not a major venue retrofitted for camera angles, and the elevation gives the broadcast plenty to work with.

Visiting fans can stay on property at The Inn or one of the cabins, eat and drink without leaving the farm, and pair the round with the spa or the Orvis Shooting Grounds. The course runs the new E-Z-GO lithium carts.